Each year in September, Pettigrew State Park celebrates Indian Heritage
Week with a series of displays of Native American artifacts and demonstrations
of their customs in honor of the original inhabitants of our state. This
celebration at the park is possible because of the recovery of a remarkable
set of Indian artifacts at Lake Phelps.

In the spring of 1985, an extensive forest fire in the vicinity of
Lake Phelps was fought with water pumped from the lake, resulting in a
lowered water level - much below what had been the normal level for some
time. Dry weather during the remainder of that year and in succeeding years
kept the lake level below normal. In the fall of 1985, fishermen began
reporting artifacts that were now visible on the lake bottom through the
shallow, crystal clear water. A number of these, including partial and
whole clay pots and stone objects, were collected and deposited at Pettigrew
State Park. Artifact collection continued and in November of 1985, the
first of a number of dugout canoes was discovered by park personnel. It
was that discovery, along with the unusually well preserved artifacts,
that focused attention on the archaeological potential of Lake Phelps and
initiated a cooperative research project with the goal of understanding
the secrets of Lake Phelps' past cultures. The on-going research program
is a joint effort by the North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation,
East Carolina University, and the North Carolina Division of Archives and
History. (Page 1)

At this writing, hundreds of artifacts spanning 11,000 years have
been collected and 30 dugout canoes have been reported, qualifying the
collection as the largest number of canoes in the southeastern United States
still in association with the sites where they were manufactured and used.
The Lake Phelps relics have significantly increased not only our knowledge
of ancient canoes, but also our understanding of how people in the past
used the lake and its surrounding environment. This pamphlet provides a
summary of the information presently available from the research.

The Lake and Its Archaeological
Sites

Lake Phelps is located in Pettigrew State Park in Washington and
the very western fringe of Tyrrell counties, North Carolina (see map on
back cover). This shallow 16,600-acre lake, the second largest natural
lake in the state, is characteristic of a group of oval-shaped lakes and
pocosins known as "Carolina Bays" distributed along the Middle
Atlantic and Southeastern coastal plain. Explanations for the origin of
these natural features have ranged from meteoric showers to peat burns,
but current geological research suggests that Lake Phelps may have formed
in response to processes of coastal plain land form development sometime
within the last 40,000 years. The lake, like others of its type, was a
landlocked internal drainage basin until the last decades of the 18th Century,
when plantations were established and canals were cut from the lake to
the Scuppernong River, draining the adjacent peat bogs to make them suitable
for farming. Prior to the canals, the lake level fluctuated in response
to rainfall and temperature. (Page 2)

Beginning about I 1,000 years ago, people came to the lake to take
advantage of the available food resources. They camped along the low ridges
on the northern and western shores, made and used the dugout canoes; and
followed their daily routines of hunting and gathering, generation after
generation. As the generations passed, the artifacts they broke, lost or
threw away accumulated in their living areas as evidence of their presence
at Lake Phelps. Through time, the lake rose and fell, alternately eroding
the shoreline and re-sorting the sediments. As the lake eroded the living
sites, the artifacts and the canoes abandoned along old shorelines were
covered with sediments deposited by the higher water level. When the lake
fell, the gentle wave action removed the sediments from the canoes and
artifacts, exposing them as it did in 1985. No doubt this cycle has repeated
itself numerous times in the past, but no one noticed or recorded it.

Scale drawing of the 37' canoe.

Most remarkable among the artifacts from Lake Phelps are the ancient
canoes. To date, 30 have been reported but only 23 of these have been measured
and studied. The canoes are scattered along the northern and western shores
of the lake adjacent to the archaeological sites where they were made,
used and eventually abandoned. A detailed study of the shape and size of
the canoes and techniques used to manufacture them is still in progress,
but all appear to have been made by first splitting a cypress log, then
alternately burning and scraping the interior until the desired shape and
size was obtained. In this manner, two canoes could be made from each log.
(Page 3)

Indians burning out cypress logs
to make dugout canoes.

Sketch of a dugout canoe after
suctioning sediment away from
the bow to permit measurements.

Some of the canoes are nothing
more than fragments while others
are essentially intact - preserved
by the acidic water and their long
burial in the lake bottom sediments.
The end (bow and stern) shape of
the canoes varies, and the length
of the longest canoe found so far is
37 feet. Four of the canoes have
been preserved and two are on
display at Pettigrew State Park.
Nineteen of the canoes have been
dated by the radiocarbon process,
and they range in age from 2400
B.C. to A.D. 1400, correlating
closely with the known age of
the other artifacts from the lake.

(Page 4)

THE LAKE PHELPS CULTURE SEQUENCE

The canoes and other artifacts from Lake Phelps represent a sequence
of occupations at the lake which correlate with the general cultural history
of northeastern North Carolina. That sequence is shown on the accompanying
chart. What is known of the artifacts and lifeways of each phase in the
sequence is described over the following the pages. (Page 5)

The Earliest Inhabitants

The earliest evidence of human presence at the lake consists of two
small spear points of the Palmer type generally dated to the Late Paleo-Indian
period (8000-9000 B.C). These artifacts may relate to small hunting and
gathering camps near the lake during a time of colder climate, coniferous
forests and fewer food resources.

The Early (8000-5000 B.C) and Middle (5000- 3000 B.C.) Archaic period
is equally poorly represented in the Lake Phelps collections by a Kirk
and a Morrow Mountain spear point, respectively. These, like the Paleo-Indian
points before them, may be the remnants of temporary camps or hunting expeditions
passing along the shore. During the Archaic period, the climate began to
warm, resources became more abundant and in the later years of the period,
the lake was more frequently used.

Paleo-Indian and
Archaic period spear
points and a spear
thrower weight.

The Late Archaic

In the Late Archaic period (3000 -1000 B.C.), the climate of the
region felt much like today's weather. It supported forest types with cypress
along the shore, mixed deciduous forest on the ridge above the shore, and
typical peat bog growth beyond and away from the lake. Fish, game and edible
plant resources (Page 6) were more abundant and the archaeological evidence
indicates more frequent use of the lake area. Hunting activity is represented
by spear points, a spear thrower weight and bifacial blades. Cooking vessels
made of soapstone suggest longer stays at the lake, perhaps for a season
of food gathering activities. The three earliest dugout canoes belong to
this period - the oldest dating to around 2430 B.C. Their presence signals
a longer occupation of the sites during this time, and possibly the increased
importance of fishing.

Between 2000 B.C. and 1500 B.C. ceramic vessels began to replace
the older soapstone containers along the Atlantic coast. The shapes of
these early ceramic containers were relatively standard flat-bottomed tubs
and bowls with two lug handles near the rim. The tempering material the
potters added to the clay varied, however, from region to region. At Lake
Phelps, the early ceramic ware is named Croaker Landing and has lumps of
sundried clay added to the paste. The Croaker Landing pottery, either plain
or decorated with incised lines or sometimes cord-marking, is typical of
the northeastern North Carolina and Southern Virginia coastal region. The
Lake Phelps specimens of this ware aided in defining the southern part
of this distribution and have been designated the (Page 7) "Pettigrew
variety" of Croaker Landing ware. Soapstone tempered Marcey Creek
pottery, more typical of the Virginia-Maryland coast, is represented by
a few sherds indicative of exchange with more northerly regions.

The Early Woodland

Two canoes, dated to 770 B.C. and 900 B.C. belong to the Deep Creek
phase of the Early Woodland period (1000-300 B.C.). One of these canoes,
shown on the front cover of this pamphlet was found with fragments of a
ceramic pot approximately half inside and half outside the canoe. Apparently
the vessel was dropped and hit the edge of the abandoned canoe. The ceramic
vessel, which is of the type Deep Creek net impressed, and with the cord
impressions from the string wrapped paddles, represent two of the main
surface finishing techniques in the Deep Creek phase. Present also are
ceramic vessels with fabric impressions on the exterior. The frequency
of artifacts in the Deep Creek phase is approxixnately equal to that in
the preceding Late Archaic period, and this phase is seen as a continuity
in settlement types and adaptation from that period, although artifact
types indicate new northern influences. (Page 8)

Deep Creek cord marked pot with
charred esterior.

The Middle Woodland

The time of the most intense prehistoric use of Lake Phelps occured
in the Mount Pleasant Phase of the Middle Woodland period (300 B.C - A.D.
8000). The settlements of this phase are found along the northern and western
shores where family groups came to establish seasonal bases for fishing,
hunting and collecting wild plant foods. Most of the ceramic vessels and
fragments in the collection belong to this phase. Vessels of various shapes,
including two miniature ones, have surface treatments of cord marking,
net impressions and fabric impressions. Some exhibit other forms of decoration
such as incised lines in a chevron pattern. Another remarkable characteristic
of not only the Mount Pleasant pottery, but of 90% of the ceramic vessels
from Lake Phelps, is the retention of thick deposits of charred material
on the vessel exteriors - indicative of their use for cooking.

Polished stone gorgets of the Woodland
period.

Stone artifacts include some excellent examples of polished stone
bar gorgets with holes drilled near their centers, and triangular arrow
points typical of the Middle Woodland period. Eleven of the dugout canoes
belong to this period, with dates ranging from 140 B.C. to A.D. 420. Eight
canoes in the time span between A.D. 110 and A.D. 340 have radio carbon
dates approximately 20 to 30 years apart. It is intriguing to assume that
this recurrence at regular intervals represents the actual life span of
a cypress dugout. If such is the case, one canoe would serve a family for
one generation before becoming waterlogged or decayed. Further (Page 9)
experiments may help us understand the life expectancy for a dugout and,
as the dated samples of canoes from lake Phelps increases, the temporal
sequences and periodocoty of production.

The Colington phase of the Late Woodland period (A.D. 800-1650) is
the ancestral culture of the Carolina Algonkians, the Native American people
first met in this region by 16th century European explorers. The people
of this phase who came to Lake Phelps to hunt, fish and collect plants
were probably members of the Moratoc society whose territory included the
south side of the Albemarle Sound from the Scuppemong River to the mouth
of the Roanoke River. The Colington phase occupation at Lake Phelps is
less intense than that of the previous Mount Pleasant phase, probably due
to a more efficient agricultural system and less need to supplement food
supplies at inland locations.

Only three of the dugout canoes belong to this phase, one from the
western shore and two from the northern shore with dates of A.D. 1400,
A.D. 1200 respectively.

Similarly, there are fewer pottery vessels and stone tools. The typical
pottery of the Cohngton phase, tempered with fragments of shell mixed in
the clay, (Page 11)

was finished with fabric impression or parallel linear grooves made
by a carved wooden paddle or simple stamp. Sometimes incised decoration
was applied over the surface finish. Vessel shapes included conoidal pots
with inverted rims; small bowls; jars with four oppositely opposed castellations
or raised areas on the rim; miniature vessels and boat-shaped dippers,
among others. Small triangular arrow points, some made of tan jasper and
typical of the Colington phase, were also found.

The remnant poles of fish weirs, or traps, found at the lake bottom,
may also be products of Colington phase fishing activities.

So far there is no evidence that Lake Phelps was being used by the
Carolina Algonkian people at the time permanent European colonization began
in the 17th century. By the time the lake was "rediscoveredí by Colonials
in 1755, it was perceived as a pristine environment.

THE LAKE STILL
HOLDS SECRETS

The archaeological, historical. and natural resources of Lake Phelps
and Pettigrew State Park represent a unique opportunity to study human
use of a particular environmental niche (Carolina Bay) from the lake's
origin up to modem times. The remarkable preservation of wooden materials
in general and the canoes in particular, the wealth of other artifacts
from the shoreline and the possibility of undisturbed deposits on the shore
all underline the importance of the Lake Phelps sites in understanding
the cultural ecology of this and other such locales. (Page 12)

Illustration Credits: The
line drawing of the canoe on the front cover was done by Richard Lawrence
of the Underwater Archaeology Laboratory, Division of Archives and History.
The two line drawings of canoes in the text were done by Kaea Morris, graduate
student in Maritime History, East Carolina University. All photos are by
the author, Dr. David S. Phelps, Professor of Anthropology, East Carolina
University.

The above article was published as a brochure
for Pettigrew State Park by Dr. David S. Phelps. Thanks to Sidney H. Shearin,
Superintendent of Pettigrew State Park and the author Dr. David S. Phelps
for permission to reprint.